Stay just south of the park, commune with nature, and journal about it.

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Tenaya Lodge salutes the 125th anniversary of Yosemite National Park with a special stay-over package.

JOURNALING AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS: While journaling has been around since the advent of paper and writing implements, the act of chronicling thoughts, jotting down random ideas, sketching images, and sharing one's mind with a blank page has gone through some ups and downs, over time. Sometimes our society encourages self-reflection of the quietest sort; sometimes it suggests public sharing, on a wider form (hello, internet). But journaling about one's time in nature, with notes on the squirrels and the pine cones and how sunlight dots the ground in a thick grove of trees, will never be a trend.

IT IS AN ETERNAL ACT, one championed by the poets of yore and great naturalists like John Muir. Thus a journal seems the right item to have in one's hand as one ventures into Yosemite National Park, a place Mr. Muir was highly fond of (if "highly fond" is worded strongly enough). It is, in fact, the 125th anniversary of Yosemite National Park in 2015, and properties and organizations are doing much to celebrate. One spot, Tenaya Lodge, which sits just south of the iconic destination, is offering a 125th Anniversary-themed package that includes both a nice accommodation and, you guessed it, a journal, too.

IT'S A NICE TOUCH... but best stow it in your backpack before you venture into the canyons and meadows of Yosemite. Naturalists have plunked down on a variety of large rocks to record their of-the-moment observations, and so should you. A keepsake travel mug is part of the package -- sip tea out of it later, when you're re-reading your journal and reminiscing -- and breakfast for two, too. And yes, we know: Yosemite, as a land, is far older than a century and twenty five years. But protections were put in place in 1890, and those protections have made it possible for countless visitors to journal about their spectacular visit to the park in the years that followed. Does it sooth the soul to sit upon a large rock and write about a squirrel gnawing at an acorn in the distance? Find out.